


Strange fits of passion have I known

by A_letheia



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: 5 years post canon, Arya has grown up, Awkward!Jon Snow, Dany and Aegon rule the seven kingdoms, Eventual Smut, F/F, F/M, He can't deal, Jon Snow is called Jaehaerys, Multi, No Ramsay, Regent!Sansa, Rickon Lives, Sansa and Daensa focused, and at official events, but Aegon is also important, but only by Dany, mix of book and show canon, romance focused, will feature smut for all couples involved
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-29
Updated: 2020-02-05
Packaged: 2021-02-27 05:47:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,592
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22272073
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/A_letheia/pseuds/A_letheia
Summary: Sansa Stark travels to King's Landing—the place of past torment—with trepidation yet hope; hope that this time it'll be different—new rulers, new knowledge and a new game. With Rickon nearing his maturity, it's time for Sansa to do her duty to her house and find herself a suitable husband. With the festival to celebrate five years of Targaryen rule coming up and young eligible lords gathering in the capital, there's no better time or place. But when she arrives in King's Landing she finds more than she's bargained for in the Targaryen queen and her king.An unnamed tension has marred what was once the closest sibling relationship she's had. Ever since reuniting things have been difficult between her and Jon. Though distance and their correspondence via raven has helped mend the rift somewhat, Arya's hoping her stay in King's Landing will fix their once close relationship. But will they be brave enough when fixing their relationship might mean changing it forever?
Relationships: Aegon VI Targaryen/Daenerys Targaryen, Jon Snow/Arya Stark, Sansa Stark/Aegon VI Targaryen, Sansa Stark/Daenerys Targaryen, Sansa Stark/Daenerys Targaryen/Aegon VI Targaryen
Comments: 9
Kudos: 32





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> This fic will focus on Sansa and her relationship with Daenerys. Their relationship with Aegon will also feature heavily. This is meant to be a polygamous relationship but the focus will be on Sansa and Daenerys. 
> 
> The relationship between Jon and Arya will also feature though it's of secondary importance. 
> 
> Romance is the focus of this story so don't expect intricate political plots or anything, this story is really about these people finding each other and navigating how this affects them. Of course, most of these characters hold significant positions in the realm so that won't be ignored nor will the impact of these relationships on those positions.

Sansa had been sitting at her desk which had been her father’s before hers—she opted to forget the other occupants of this room—aimlessly staring at the window, fidgeting her hands, when the maester came in carrying a newly arrived letter. She had seen the raven arrive from the window when she had been standing at it looking out over Winterfell, taking a break from the never-ending work of a regent. Though she had returned to her desk after a while she hadn’t gotten much more work done. She had been restless all day.

“Lady Sansa, a raven has arrived from the crown. An invitation to you and the Lady Arya to come celebrate five years of Targaryen rule in the capital. There will be a festival.”

“Thank you, Maester Samwell. Please put the letter on my desk, I will have my reply ready for you as soon as I speak to my sister. Speaking of Arya, do you know where I can find her?” She asks him.

Samwell had been a brother of her cousin Jon—or Jaehaerys as he was now officially known—at the Night’s Watch. He’d finished his training at a remarkable speed and came to Winterfell several months after Stark rule was properly re-established and the Others were defeated. He came highly recommended by her cousin who liked to have someone he trusted in his childhood home as he told them in the letter that came with Samwell’s arrival. She’d been angry with her cousin for his presumption but they had needed a Maester and Sam had proven himself up to it.

“I last saw her with Lord Stark in the training yard, my lady,” Sam responded in a soft voice. _Of course, they were_.

When her sister had first returned and asked to train Rickon, Sansa wished to refuse. She hadn’t wanted Arya to take up training Rickon in a way that was unlike the way highborn boys were usually trained. It had been hard enough to get Rickon to behave. But she had relented because, as Arya had reminded her, their journey hadn’t been ordinary so why should the future Warden of the North be trained in the usual ways. Sansa’s wish to see her family protected as much as possible had won out over her desire for life to return to normal. Rickon would receive the training required for boys of his stations as well as the special training Arya could give him with her particular skill set. Eventually, they soon realized that the training helped him be more disciplined and controlled which had been sorely lacking after spending so many years in the wilderness. And it tired him out which was helpful for everyone involved in raising her younger brother to be the lord he’d have to be.

Soon Sansa was pulled out of her revery by the sounds of the practice yard. She and her sister had already agreed that they would go to King’s Landing when Sansa had received the queen’s personal invite through their regular correspondence, but before she wrote a formal reply to the official invitation she wanted to make sure her sister hadn’t changed her mind. If it had been a year ago even, Sansa would have refused the invite herself but she felt secure enough in her position, and the people they’d gathered around them in Winterfell to leave her home for the first time in five years. More importantly, Rickon was now well enough to do without his two sisters for a while. Osha would never leave his side nor would the three direwolves that now stayed at Winterfell for most of the year. They were a remarkable sight, laying about the practice yard with their hulking size taking up a large part of it as Arya trained their brother in the art of water dancing. Where to others they inspired fear, for her and her family they meant loyalty and protection.

As she leaned her hands on the balustrade, watching over her siblings’ training, she couldn’t help but worry. Sansa wasn’t entirely happy to be leaving Winterfell and had regretted her reply to the queen as soon as she’d sent it. Nothing good had come from the Starks leaving Winterfell in the past, but she knows she needs to get used to it as in a few years her brother will assume his rightful position and she will no longer have to function as his regent. She knows her brother would never send her away but she knows she can better serve her family by finding her way in the world and making a suitable alliance for an eldest daughter of House Stark and what better alliance could she make than one made through marriage. But to make that happen, she’d have to leave Winterfell.

Sure, she could marry a second son of some northern lord but she had to think about what was best for her family and the image her marriage would send out to the world. She thought of her second husband. Harry had looked so dashing the day she’d wed him but she hadn’t been fooled by his good looks. It took more than good looks to win her heart but he’d been a good enough husband for a man who’d already had two bastards before she’d married him. She never loved him but he loved her in his own way and she’d wept when he died fighting the Others. Her marriage to him had freed her from the man she’d called ‘father’ for far too long. Her heart was never in any danger with Harry and when he died she knew she’d have to re-marry in the future as she had no heir to fall back on. Her marriage to Harry wasn’t blessed with a child because, as she later found out, Petyr had been mixing moon tea into her drinks. Despite arranging the marriage, it seemed he couldn’t stand the thought of her bearing Harry’s children. As much as she’d ached for a child back then, it turned out to be a blessing with Rickon returning in need of a parental figure and her position as regent taking up so much of her time. Yet the time had come for her to mingle in the affairs of the realm again, to further secure the position of her house.

Sansa waved Arya over as she saw her siblings finishing up their training, signaling for her sister to join her. Yes, Sansa would help secure a bright future for House Stark. Her cousin was ably ruling the Vale and had been named Warden of the East, the Tully’s rule of the Riverlands was secured by her uncle, his two sons and a third child on the way, her other cousin was crown prince and she had been exchanging private letters with the queen which were amiable in nature. Maybe she’d choose a southern husband. She remembered the Tyrells courting her until she was no longer useful to them after her marriage to her first husband. _No Tyrells._ She’d never let herself be put in that position again. This festival in King’s Landing would give her a great opportunity to meet all available men but this time she’d be protected from the worst of them she hoped as she was less sure how the king felt about his brother’s Stark cousins. The king’s favored cousin was still available, a marriage between a Stark and a Martell would go a long way in healing the wounds of the past and would tie her house to yet another powerful house in the realm.

 _The future of House Stark will be secure_. And to make it so, she had to travel to King’s Landing, the place that nearly ended the long line of Stark rule in the north.


	2. Its gleams of sunshine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> First impressions

_What am I doing here?_

A gentle summer’s breeze touches her face as Sansa stands out on the ship’s deck, overlooking the bay they still have to travel and the capital she can see rising in the distance.

The closer they moved to King’s Landing the higher the frequency of that thought entering Sansa’s mind. What was she doing returning to the place that had crushed her childhood dreams in the most brutal of ways? But she isn’t a child any longer, she reminds herself repeatedly. She knows what she’s walking into.

She’s stood on the deck looking at the nearing city since after she broke her fast this morning. Their boat will soon be nearing the docks from where they’ll be led through the river gate to the Red Keep. She wonders who will come to greet them. Probably her cousin Jon, though he’s now known throughout the realm as Jaehaerys Targaryen and the reason that she should fear coming here less, for he was her royal cousin now. The Stark connection to the throne—she hoped— would protect her family more than her father’s friendship with Robert Baratheon ever had.

Still, she had to be cautious. She’s built a good rapport with the woman known to many as the dragon queen through their occasional letters, but she’d never met the woman in real life as after the Others were defeated, she immediately returned to the capital. And if not the queen, then the king might harbor ill will. While he was recuperating from his fall and the near loss of his dragon in Winterfell, he’d been short and aloof, but she was loath to blame him. When she lost Lady, she had hardly been the most pleasant company and from what she understood dragons had a similar relationship to their riders as the Starks had to their direwolves.

During that time, she spent her days running around, organizing the distribution of food and the care for the wounded so she hardly had time to be the most gracious host to a royal guest.

A hand moves over hers on the railing, startling her.

“Sansa?”

Slowly she turns towards her sister. She’s been so lost in thought she hasn’t even noticed Arya siding up to her. This was common in the early days after Arya returned to them though she’s put more effort into announcing her presence by moving like she wasn’t trained as an assassin. She’s glad to see Arya has dressed herself in the clothes Sansa made for her for this occasion, to properly represent her house.

“You’ll behave, won’t you?” Sansa asks her sister. It’s unfair to ask, she knows how hard her sister has worked to get their family back together, forging a semblance of a normal family life. But she knows her sister will understand.

“We’re in a different age now. Jon would never let anything happen to us and he’s in good standing with the king and queen. They have dragons, no one will dare hurt us now,” her sister reassures her.

Arya’s relationship with Jon has remained strong as ever with the number of ravens coming and going from and to King’s Landing that aren’t addressed to Sansa.

“Have you talked to Jon recently?”

Arya’s hand leaves hers and she turns away from her, looking towards the nearing city. Her own relationship with Jon is not anywhere near as close.

When Sansa had been in the Vale she thought him the only family remaining to her and she’d hoped to build a better relationship with him if she ever saw him again but so much had happened in the years since they all reunited that she hasn’t had the time. She’s been busy raising her brother and running the north while he was busy helping his aunt and brother rule the realm. Arya’s face is still turned from her, looking at the fast-approaching dock and the welcoming party that’s waiting for them when she answers.

“We try and write to each other as much as we can. He wishes he could visit us more often but with Viserion dead he can’t easily fly over.”

Sansa remembers from the stories she loved as a child that dragons only took another rider when their previous rider had died.

“The king and queen like to keep him close,” Arya informs her, “but he hopes to return to Winterfell in the next year when things have returned to normal in King’s Landing.”

Jon would be a calming influence on her little brother so his presence in their home—having her entire family united again—is very much welcome.

“He’s always welcome at Winterfell, it’s his home too and Rickon could use his influence and presence.”

But for now, she needs to ready herself for returning to the place of past her torment. __They aren’t there anymore__ ; she reminds herself as she sees the capital fast approaching and the Targaryen banner flapping in the wind. She smooths out her dress, trying to smooth out the non-existent wrinkles. She made it herself—decorated with direwolves and blue winter roses to make sure no one wonders which house she belongs to. She’s here to represent her house and she’ll represent it well. Even the Targaryens will learn to love her, Sansa thinks as she’s being led off the ship to join her cousin at the front of the party.

***

The sun had broken through the clouds and shone brightly through the windows behind her. Dany hadn’t found time to go outside yet today but she hoped that would soon change once they got all the pomp out of the way. She’d like to feel the sun on her skin today instead of being locked in the cavernous throne room with courtiers, knights and other supplicants who’d come to gawk at the return of the Starks to a Targaryen controlled King’s Landing. 

As she stood waiting on the dais, she had to admit she too eagerly anticipated the arrival of Jon’s relatives though for different reasons than the onlooking public. She’s exchanged quite a few letters with the ‘unofficial’ lady of Winterfell, and she felt a kinship had developed between her and Lady Stark, the woman she’d given the title ‘Lady protector of Winterfell’ until her younger brother Rickon came of age. If it was up to her, she’d give Sansa permanent rule. A genuine friendship with a woman of her station who wasn’t a sycophant would be a welcome change.

Dany glanced over at her husband who was conversing with Varys. She still didn’t trust the man, but she had to admit that his information gathering was invaluable. It was a rarity that she and Aegon were both present in the throne room, but they felt it important to be a united front and show the realm that the Starks and the Targaryens are on good terms. Of course, this did present the issue of who would sit on the Iron Throne which they had resolved by both standing in front of it to greet their guests.

Dany had been at her desk, answering letters from all over the realm and the territories in Essos but she’d come out for the occasion. Missandei and Barristan stand to her side as they’re waiting for Jaehaerys to bring his cousins into the throne room.

She plans on inviting the Stark woman to a luncheon in her chambers, she’s eager to meet this woman who’s been ruling the cold North. Dany wants to get to know Sansa Stark. Aegon can handle playing court the rest of the day by himself just fine, they had agreed after all. Her other nephew will show his cousin around.

Arya Stark doesn’t seem the type to enjoy a luncheon with the queen. Or so she’s gathered from Jaehaerys’s many stories about her. Arya might be more interested in visiting her children in the Dragon pit but let them spend time together first. Her nephew could do to spend some time with someone who reminds him of the north. It might make him less inclined to want to leave King’s landing for the north if he can get a taste of it here.

The creaking of the doors can be heard, bringing Dany’s attention back to the present. Her nephew walks through the door with his pretty attendant Satin, followed by a tall, graceful woman. The sunlight glints of the fiery curls of her hair. She’d worn the gray of her house with blue roses and wolves embroidered along the hem. It reminds Dany of the story they had heard from Howland Reed at the Wall. Of how Rhaegar had given a crown of blue roses not to his wife but to Lyanna Stark. She could understand the urge to give this Stark woman a crown of blue roses, they’d look magnificent with the red of her hair.

Next to her was a slender girl, resembling Dany’s nephew in more ways than one. If she didn’t know better she’d say that they were siblings and lady Sansa was their cousin. As they drew nearer the dais, Dany noticed the initially fiery hair was darker than the sunlight had made it seem, more of an auburn color. Many people had remarked on the beauty of Dany’s violet eyes. But as Sansa Stark drew nearer and catches her gaze she’s drawn in by the blue of her eyes until they’re demurely lowered. 

The murmurs of the crowd quieten down when her nephew announces his guests.

“Your graces, may I present to you my cousins, the ladies Sansa and Arya of House Stark.”

Out of the corner of her eye, she sees Aegon look at her. As she graces him with a glance her raised his eyebrow at her. She turns her attention back to find both women curtsying, the one more elegantly than the other.

“We welcome our esteemed guests from the north, cousins to my dear brother, to court. We hope you’ve found your stay at court pleasant so far. You may have noticed we’ve done some redecorating around the keep.”

“Less of a stench now at least,” Jaehaerys’ dark-haired cousin blurts out. Aegon seems a bit put out, but Dany huffs out a laugh.

“Arya..” She hears Sansa whisper to her sister, giving her a stern look.

“Then we’ve achieved our goal,” Dany says, addressing the Stark girl.

“What my sister meant was that the air in the city smells fresher than it did the last time we were here, your grace. I thank you for your gracious welcome, the rooms you’ve given us have been splendid.”

“Of course, we are family after all,” Aegon lets everyone know, her husband is smart enough to know that there’s always those at court looking for weaknesses.

In the years since Targaryen rule was restored, many hoped to find a weak spot in their rule by poking at the relationship between her nephews. Aegon must be resentful of Jaehaerys, the living proof of Rhaegar’s betrayal to his mother. But nothing could be further from the truth, despite their differing personalities, they’ve only grown closer.

After some initial bumps, Aegon was glad to welcome his brother into the family especially after Jaehaerys rejected Dany’s offer of marriage and kingship. Nor does Aegon have any feelings of resentment towards the remaining Starks and he’s now let the entire court know this; Targaryens and Starks won’t be played against each other.

Sansa Stark nods at this, seemingly relieved.

Dany remembers Aegon telling her about his stay at Winterfell. He hadn’t been in the best shape, physically or mentally but the one thing that he remembered from that time was Lady Sansa’s singing. She hopes she’ll entertain them with her voice during her stay. They should bring out the harp over dinner sometime, Dany muses.

The Stark sisters move to the side as some other new additions to court are introduced and Dany stays throughout it all, welcoming guest after guest. Dany has already grown bored, but she knows this will go on for weeks leading up to the festival. When the last of the people have been introduced, she calls for Jon. He knows the plan.

***

“Cousin,” he says, addressing Sansa, “the queen invites you to a luncheon in her courtyard. She’d like to get to know the woman who’s ruled the north so well. Missandei will take you.” He points at the dusky-skinned, gold-eyed woman standing towards the side of the dais.

As Sansa is led away by Missandei to join the queen for their private luncheon, he approaches Arya.

“I’m here to give you a tour of the Keep, I thought you might like to see the armory, then we’ll go for a round in the practice yard. Show me what you’ve been teaching Rickon.” 

“Lead the way,” she responds.

Their earlier meeting had been awkward, but he hopes it’ll go better now that they can share in their common interest. It was hard for him to accept that the Arya he left behind when he went to the wall is now a woman grown. In his mind, she’d always stayed his little sister, but she’s managed to turn her youthful spiritedness into a fierceness equaling or even surpassing any wilding warrior woman he’s met.

The letters they’ve been exchanging have helped him get to know the woman she’s become and he hopes that their relationship will continue to normalize while she’s here and they can get back the bond they had in the past though he’s never loved her any less despite this distance he feels between them.

No point dwelling on it now. He has a tour to give and a sister to keep busy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wasn't entirely happy with this chapter but decided to post it anyway. Next chapter will finally get some private interaction between the relevant people.

**Author's Note:**

> This was a very brief prologue, just to give an idea of what's going on in Winterfell and to set the stage. Hope you enjoyed.


End file.
